So remember how I’ve told you guys before that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth? Well, it’s true. I’ll choose scrambled eggs and bacon over a pastry or muffin any day, I’d rather indulge on a cheese plate than a sweet treat after dinner, and it would never cross my mind to grab something like a handful of cookies when I want to refuel …..just a handful of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and I’m good, thankyouverymuch! Jordan (my boyfriend) on the other hand is the exact opposite. If we’re at home, by the time our dinner dishes land in the sink his head is in the freezer to see if we have ice cream or he has car keys in hand, ready for a fro-yo date….him and the frozen yogurt, that is. While he’s a lover of all sweets, his favorite is definitely ice cream……with whipped cream……and caramel sauce….with maybe an Oreo or two crumbled on top…yea, he takes dessert time pretty seriously.

I like to think that this ice cream is the perfect dessert for a couple trying to satisfy both a sweet and a salt tooth. Salted caramel is something I’m actually kind of into and in ice cream form it’s kind of amazing. Why candied bacon?….why not?…right?! Sweet and salty combos are awesome and this one in particular is like died and gone to heaven awesome :) I stuck it in between graham crackers for the photo above, but it’s just as good on it’s own….or sandwiched between Ritz crackers…no really, it is! Try it!

Directions:
1. Place the butter in a medium sauté pan, over medium heat and melt.
2. Add the bacon and stir.
3. Sprinkle both sugars over the bacon and continuously stir until the sugar melts, about 5 to 7 minutes.
4. In a single layer, pour the bacon onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside to cool.
5. For the ice cream base: Pour cream and milk into a saucepan and bring up to a scale (medium heat).
6. Place the egg yolks and sugar into a stand mixer and whip until light yellow and fluffy.
7. Pour ½ cup of the scaling cream mixture into the yolk mixture and whisk to prevent scrambling.
8. Pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining cream and milk, whisking to prevent scrambling.
9. Turn the heat down to medium-low and stir continuously until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.
10. Stir in the vanilla extract and strain through a fine sieve.
11. Pour the mixture into a bowl and place over an ice bath and set side until fully chilled.
12. Once the ice cream base has completely chilled, make the salted caramel.
13. For the salted caramel: Place the sugar, water and karo syrup into a saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Do not stir.
14. Once the sugar melts and becomes an amber color, 10-15 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the cream (be careful, the mixture will bubble up).
15. Stir the sea salt and vanilla into the caramel and stir until smooth.
16. Pour the mixture into a bowl and place over a water bath until completely chilled.
17. Stir the chilled ice cream base and salted caramel together, into a large bowl until completely combined.
18. Set up the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions and freeze the ice cream.
19. 10 minutes before the ice cream is ready, pour the candied bacon into the churning ice cream.
20. Once the ice cream has reached the desired consistency serve or place into an airtight container until ready to use.

As Donald Duck would say, “Oh boy, oh boy!” This sounds amazing! I have had a caramel ice cream with bacon (already delicious to me), what more a *salted* caramel ice cream with *candied* bacon…nirvana! I love combining savory and sweet…especially if bacon is the savory :)

Sweet & salty is my absolute fav combo! Never imagined salted caramel ice cream together with candied bacon, but now I can’t think about anything other than how amazing this would be. Great idea to try it between Ritz crackers.

I’m the same, I much prefer the savory over sweet. My husband on the otherhand always has candy and sweets around. I think this one would satisfy both of us, such a great idea! I mean, anything with bacon is good, right?!?!

So, I finally made this yesterday, and I have one suggestion: add the sea salt to the caramel a little at a time and keep tasting it until it is salty enough. The amount called for here was way too much (and I like salty caramel!), which could have had a lot to do with the particular sea salt I was using (Trader Joe’s). Otherwise. this is the HARDEST ROCKIN ice cream ever!

The idea sounded great, but found the caramel difficult….did not want to turn amber, more off white, and then suddenly became sugary before it even all melted, much less turned amber. Wondering what went wrong…

Hi barb! That means your sugar crystallized before it had a chance to melt/caramelize….this has happened to me before. The key is to allow the sugar to melt without touching it…no stirring, no nothing! Im sorry you had a hard time, such a bummer! Hope this was helpful!

I just tried this recipe today and for some reason my ice cream wouldn’t freeze! Any ideas why it would have trouble freezing?! I chilled the ice cream and caramel base overnight in the refrigerator… I have a kitchen aide ice cream maker…

I had difficulty with the caramel step as well; some of the sugar rested on top and wouldn’t melt. However, the stuff that caramelized properly was delicious! Although I really liked the salted caramel, I agree with the reviewer who suggests cutting back the salt; in the ice cream, it made for a VERY salty finished product. I had trouble with the mixture freezing as well, but I think this might be my fault. I’m not sure the base was custardy enough before I moved on to the next step and I might have let the ice cream process in the machine too long, letting it get past the set stage and return to a more melty consistency. The mixture did freeze overnight, but it seemed like the cream rose to the top and the rest was a rich ice milk consistency. The flavor (although saltier than I would want it) is divine. Candied bacon in ice cream is brilliant!

Next time trying adding about a teaspoon of water over the dry spots of sugar to help it along the way (during the melting process). I have a huge salt tooth, so the salt is perfect for me, just scale back next time! That’s really off about the cream separating, I’ve never run into that issue

I just made the base tonight, mixing it tomorrow and serving it Saturday at a bacon party along with a whiskey bacon ice cream. I’d never made caramel before, but it came out well, I didn’t have any issues with it. Definitely plan on making it again, it was easier than I expected.

As for the salt, I used very coarsest ground sea salt and added a little at a time, I ended up around 1.5 tablespoons. if you use finely ground sea salt I could see how it would end up too salty.

Thank you for the recipe! I tasted the base before putting it in the fridge and it was awesome.

I thought this would be the perfect ice cream. But it didn’t turn out well for me. I made it for a get together and it was way too salty. And I am a salt-aholic. So I will definitely taste as I go next time. It also didn’t freeze properly which I believe was due to the high salt content which lowers the freezing temperature.
I will retry it though, because I still believe this would be the perfect ice cream.